Belt and gear drive for selfpropelled implements



Filed Jan. 31, 1947 J 1950 R. ANDERSON 2,510,325

BELT AND GEAR DRIVE FOR SELF-PROPELLED IMPLEMENTS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 r. I m.

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INV EN TOR RALPH L. ANDERSON ATTORNEYS June 6, 1950 R. L. ANDERSON BELT AND GEAR DRIVE FOR SELF-PROPELLED IMPLEMENTS Filed Jan. 31, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 6, 1950 R. L. ANDERSON 2,510,325

BELT AND GEAR DRIVE FOR SELF-PROPELLED IMPLEMENTS Filed Jan. 31, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR A LPH L. ANDERSON rromwsys Patented June 1950 BELT AND GEAR muvr: FOR SELF- PROPELLED IMPLEMENTS Ralph L. Anderson, Moline,

& Company, Moline, 111.,

Illinois 111., assignor to Deere a corporation of Application January 31, 1947, Serial No. 725,629

2 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to selfpropelled implements and other vehicles and more particularly to the drive connections therefor, and

has for its principal object the provision of a novel and improved adjustable speed drive between the power plant and the traction wheels.

A self-propelled implement, such. as a combine, corn picker or the like, is usually provided with a single power plant, such as an internal combustion engine, which must furnish power not only for propelling the implement along the ground, but also for driving the harvesting and crop treating mechanism. In amachine of this type, it is desirable to drive the crop treating mechanism at a substantially constant speed which will provide maximum emciency of the mechanism, while propelling the implement at adjustable speeds to control the implement over varying ground and crop conditions, as is well known to those skilled in the art. Heretofore, this has been accomplished by means of change speedgears in the drive connection between the power plant and the traction wheels, the crop treating mechanism being driven directly from the power plant. This is not, however, a complete solution of the problem,:for the number of speeds at which. the implement can be propelled is limited to the number of gear combinations in the transmission mechanism, inasmuch as the englue or power plant must always be driven at a substantially constant speed during operation in the field.

It has beenproposed to use an infinitely adjustable speed transmission mechanism in 'combination with a change speed gear mechanism, the infinitely adjustable mechanism being designedto bridge the gap between the various gear changes. v

It is, therefore, a more specific object of my invention to provide a simplified, novel and improved power transmitting connection between the power plant and the traction wheels, employing change speed gears and infinitely variable while the belts are stationary. It is very diflicult to shift the conical elements of a V-belt pulley towardeach other while the belt trained around that pulley is stationary, inasmuch as the belt must be squeezed radially outwardly between the elements. Still another object relates to the provision that the momentum of the belts and pulleys is not transmitted to the change speed gears to interfere with the gear shifting operation.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the following description, in which reference is had to the drawings appended hereto, in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary showing a portion of a self-propelled combine embodying the principles of the present invention, with the near traction wheel and gear case omitted to more clearly show the invention; a Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view showing one of the traction wheels, a portion of the axle housing and the power transmitting housing including the change gear mechanism and clutch mechanism, portions of which are broken away to expose the mechanism, and drawn to an enlarged scale;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevational view taken in section along a line 3- -3 in Figure 1 but omitting the crop treating mechanism within the body of the implement;

Figure 4 is an enlarged view taken along a line 4-4 in Figure '1.

Referringnow to the drawings, the self-prospeed transmission mechanism, which is light in weight, inexpensive to manufacture and maintain, v

and flexible in operation.

V A still more specific object relates to the provision of a power transmitting connection of the class'described, in which the infinitely adjustable mechanism comprises an adjustable V-belt drive. A related object'has to .do with the provision that I the v-belts and sheaves are always running at.

their. normal speed of operation during starting oi the implement. ,This'avoids the imposingof heavy tension stresses in the !-belts when the lat-' ter are stationary, thereby avoiding considerable breakage of the V-belts.

. 7 Another specific object relates to the provision of a drive in which there isno necessity for adjustment of the adjustable-speed V-belt sheaves erence numeral 5 and comprises a crop treating housing or body 6 comprising top and bottom and side walls I, 8, 9, respectively. The threshing and separating mechanism within the housing 6 is not shown inasmuch as the details thereof are not essential in describing the present invention. The forward end of the body 6 is mounted on a transverse tubular beam III, which is supported on brackets l I, which are secured by bolts l2 to bosses which are cast integrally with a transversely disposed axle housing I under the housing 8.

[The axle housing H comprises a centrally disposeddifl'erential casing l5 having a pair oftubular casings l8, l1 extending laterally oppositely therefrom. The outer ends of the tubular casings l6, I! are fixed to a pair of reduction gear housings I8, I 9, respectively, which are carried on a pair of stub axles'20, 2| which are journalled in-the housings l8, l9, respectively, and which a main axle shaft 28, which extends through the tubular casing it into the differential casing side elevational view' 3 I5. The axle shaft 28 is connected, through conventional differential gear mechanism 29 within the housing I4, to a similar axle shaft 30 which drives the opposite wheel 23. The ring gear 35 of the differential mechanism 29 meshes with a pinion 36 on a shaft 31 which is rotatably mounted on'a fore and aft extending axis and which projects rearwardly into a transmission housing 38. A bevel gear 39 on the shaft 31 meshes with a bevel gear 40 fixed to a transverse power shaft 4| extending through the transmission housing 38. The power shaft 4| is connected, through change speed gear mechanism of any suitable type known to those skilled in the art and indicated generally by reference numeral 42, to a coaxially disposed clutch shaft 43 extending into a clutch housing 44. Within the clutch housing 44 is a conventional friction clutch 45 comprising a first clutch element 46 adapted to rotate continuously and a shiftable clutch element 41 mounted on a bracket 48 secured to the continuously rotatable element 46. A clutch plate 49 between the two elements 46,

41 is supported on a hub 50 splined on the clutch shaft 43. A number of coil springs urge the shiftable element 41 toward the continuously rotating element 46 to engage the clutch plate 49 therebetween, but the shiftable element 41 is shiftable axially to disengage the clutch, by means of a shifting fork 52 mounted on a supporting shaft 53 which extends outwardly of the clutch housing 44 and carries a control arm 54, by means of which the clutch 45 can be disengaged and engaged to control the transmission of power from the continuously rotatable clutch element 46 through the differential mechanism 29 to the traction wheels 22, 23.

The continuously rotating clutch element 46 is mounted on a shaft 60 which extends laterally out of the clutch housing 44 and on which is rigidly mounted a V-belt sheave 6|.

The change speed gear mechanism 42 includes a shiftable gear 62 on the splined power shaft 4|, which is shiftable into and out of mesh with a suitable drive gear (not shown) by means of a shifting fork 63 mounted on a shifting rod 64 which is slidable within the transmission housing 38 and extends outwardly thereof and is pivotally connected at 65 to a shift lever 66 which is pivotally mounted at 61 on a bracket 68 on the outside of the housing 38. The lever 66 is connected by means of a link 69 to an arm mounted on a control shaft H which is supported on a bracket 12 fixed to the axle housing I4.

An operator's platform is supported on the forward end of the crop treating housing 6 by means of diagonal bracing members 16 and carries an operator's seat 11 and a steering wheel 18, by means of which the machine can be guided. The gear shift control shaft 1| extends substantially vertically from the control arm 10 to the operators platform 15 and is provided at its upper end with a gear shift control lever 80 within convenient reach of the operators seat 11, by means of which the operator can shift the shiftable gear 62 to change the ratio of the change speed gear mechanism 42.

The clutch control arm 54 is connected through a link 8| with a clutch control lever 82 rockably mounted on a shaft 83 beneath the operator's platform 15. A foot pedal 84 on the clutch lever 82 is disposed in front of the seat 11 and provides the operator with a convenient and conventional control of the disengageable clutch 45.

Directly behind the operator's platform 15 and on top of the crop treating housing 6 is disposed a grain storage tank 85. Behind the storage tank 85 is disposed a power plant 86 in the form of an internal combustion engine, disposed with its drive shaft 81 rotatable about a transverse axis. The cooling radiator for the engine 86 is indicated at 88. The engine 86, as well as the grain storage tank 85 and the operator's platform 15, is disposed substantially centrally of the crop treating housing 6 in balanced relation, but the drive shaft 81 overhangs the left side wall 9 of the housing 6 and carries a cylindrical pulley 90 and a V-belt sheave 9|.

The V-belt sheave 9| is connected to drive the V-belt sheave 6| through a pair of V-belts 92, 93 and an adjustable V-belt sheave 94. The adjustable sheave 94 comprises a pair of opposed conical sheave elements 95, 96, which are rigidly fixed, as by bolts 91, at opposite ends of a cylindrical drum 98. A third sheave element 99 is disposed between the two relatively fixed elements 95, 96 and comprises a pair of opposed conical elements I00, IOI rigidly bolted together by means of bolts I02 and slidable axially on the drum 98. A key I03 between the elements 99 and drum 98 prevents relative rotation therebetween while permitting axial sliding movement between the two end elements 95, 96. Thus, elements and I00 define one V-belt sheave having radially inwardly converging conical driving surfaces to receive the V-belt 92, while the other two elements 96, IOI define a second adjustable V-belt sheave having radially inwardly converging conical driving surfaces to receive the other V-belt 93.

The drum 98 is provided with a pair of outwardly turned bearing flanges I04, I05, which are rotatably mounted on a pair of ball bearings I06, I01 at opposite ends of the tubular shaft I08. A supporting bolt I09 extends axially through the shaft I08 and through a pair of slots IIO, III in a pair of supporting arms H2, H3, respectively. The arms H2, 3 are constructed of a pair of structural angle members and are rigidly fixed, as by welding at II4, to a supporting tube II5, from which the arms H2, H3 extend radially and form one arm of a bell crank which also includes a second arm 6 also welded to the tube H5 and extending radially therefrom at an angle of approximately ninety degrees to the supporting arms H2, H3.

The bell crank is supported on a shaft I20, which is disposed transversely of the direction of travel of the combine and which is carried at its inner end on an angle bracket I'2I secured to the bottom 8 of the crop treating housing 6, while the outer end of the shaft I20 is mounted in a bracket I22 which is supported on an outwardly and downwardly inclined frame member I23 bolted at I24 to the side wall 9. A horizontal brace I25 is bolted at I26 to the bracket I22 and extends rearwardly and inclines toward the side wall 9, to which it is rigidly fixed, as by a bolt I21.

The adjustable sheave 94 is disposed alongside the side wall 9 and approximately midway between the two V-belt sheaves 6|, SI, and the supporting arms H2, H3 are disposed at such an angle to the belts 92, 99 that rocking of the bell crank about the supporting shaft I20 moves the adjustable sheave 94 toward one of the V-belt sheaves 6| and away from the other sheave 9|, or vice versa. The intermediate sheave element 99 is freely slidable axially on the drum so, with the result that, as the arms ally toward the sheave element 95 and thereby forcing-the other V-belt 93 radially outwardly. Thus, the belt 93 istrained around a maximum sheave diameter while the outer belt 92 is trained around a minimum sheave diameter, the extreme positions being indicated in Figures 1, 3 and 4. This results in a maximum driven speed of the clutch sheave Conversely, as the arms a clockwise movement about the axis of the shaft I29, as viewed inFi u e he t 93 s pulled radially inwardly as the adjustable sheave 94 moves away from the driven sheave 5| while moving toward the drive sheave 9|, thereby loosening the belt 92. This permits the belt 92 to be forced outwardly toward the periphery of the elements 95, I99, thereby gradually decreasing the speed of the driven'sheave M, which reaches a minimum when the axialb slidable element 99 en ages the element 95.

The belts 92, 93 are both tightened by shifting the adjustable pulley 94 radially inwardly along the supporting arms '2, I I3 toward the supporting shaft I 29. This is accomplished by means of a bifurcated adjusting element I39 disposed between the arms H2, H3 "and having a pair of legs I3I, I32 apertured at their ends to receive the bolts I99 and provided with a threaded adlusting rod .I33 which engages the connecting yoke I34 at the opposite ends of the legs I3I, I32. The adjusting rod I33 projects'through an'aperturein a lug. I35 which is fixed; as by welding, to the supporting tube 5. A pair of nuts I35 are threaded onthe adjusting rod I33 on opposite sides of the lug I35 to provide for fixing the adjusting rod I33 relative to the lug I35 in adjusted position. Shifting of'the bifurcated member I39 radially inwardly toward the axis of the, shaft I29 moves the adjustable sheave 94 away from both the drive pulley 9| and driven pulley 5|, thus increasing the tension on 'both belts 92, 93.

m, m are raised in trained over the cylindrical pulley 99 on the eng'ine' shaft 91 and' over a large pulley I5I fixed toa drive shaft I52, to which the crop treating mechanism is connected. A belt tightening idler I53 is journaled on a bell crank I54 pivotally mounted on a stub shaft I55 on the side wall 9 of the body 9. The belt tightener I53 is controlled by means of a hand lever I51 pivoted at I 59 on the operator's platform 15 and is connected by a dink I59 to a toggle locking mechanism I59, which in turn is connected through a link I5l to adepending arm I52 forming a part Of the bell crank I54. The toggle mechanism I59 comprises a curved element I19, the rear end of which is connected to the link I9I, which is. threaded and provided with a pair of adjusting nuts "I, providing for longitudinal adjustment of the link I5I' relative to the element I19. The forward end of the curved element I19 is connected by a pivot bolt I12 to a vertical lever I13 pivoted at I14 on the side wall 9. The rear end of the link I59 is pivoted by means of a bolt I15 to a rearwardly extending A to a vertical frame member I89 mounted on the The bell crank is adjusted about the axis of I the shaft I29 by means of a control lever I49 fixedto a rockshaft I4I journaled in brackets I42 on the operator's platform .15. An arm I49 is fixed to the rockshaft I4I' outwardly of the side wall 9 and is connected by means of a link I44 to the outer end of the arm I I5 of the-bell crank. Thus, by pulling upwardly and rearwardly on the lever I49, the operatormay swing the arm H5 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 1, thereby decreasing the speed of the clutch drive sheave 5I. Movement of the lever I49 forwardly and downwardly increases the speed of the sheave 5 I' and therefore increases the speed of movement of the machine. A notched sector I45 is provided for holding the lever I49 in any position of adjustment between upper and lower limits. The latch mechanism for engaging the sector I46 is not shown in the drawings but side wall 9. The spring I11 pulls rearwardly, on the link I5I to hold the idler pulley I53 away is above the pivot I14 so that the tension of the spring I11 acting through the link I5I tends to pull the curved element I19 into engagement with the pivot bolt I14, thereby locking the idler pulless; I53 in belt tightening relation with the belt During operation in the field, the' machine travels forwardly with its harvester platform I99 extending forwardly from the front end of the body 5, in the usual manner. The power plant runs at a substantially constant speed to drive the pulley I5I and the crop treating mechanism connected thereto at a constant speed. The speed of forward travel or the machine is controlled by the hand lever I49, which swings the adjustable sheave 94 to control the speed of rotation of the driven sheave 5| andtherefore the speed of rotation of the traction wheels; With any speed setting of the change speed gears",

adjustment of the pulley 94 provides a range of infinitely adjustable speeds of forward movement of the machine. When either end of the range of speed adjustment is reached and a still further adjustment is desired, the gear change mecha-'- nism can be shifted to the nextspeed setting,

mechanism 45 by stepping on the pedal 94, then shifts his gears by the ratio control lever tc a lower speed connection, then pushes the lever I49 forwardly and downwardly until the speed of the driven sheave 6I has been increased to a value near the upper end of its speed range, and finally lets in the clutch to engage the latter. The operator can then begin to pull his speed control lever I40 rearwardly to obtain another complete range of speed control of the adjustable sheave 94 to obtain a range of speed adjustment with the lower speed setting of the change gears 42.

It will be noted that inasmuch as the clutch mechanism 45 is disposed between the V-belt sheave 8| and the gear change mechanism 42, the momentum of the moving belts 92, 93 and the rotating sheaves 94 and 6| is not transmitted to the change gear mechanism and therefore does not cause any gear clashing during the change over. It is important, therefore, to place the clutch 45 at this point, rather than between the drive sheave 9| and the power plant shaft 81.

When starting the implement from a standstill, the gear shift control lever 80 is first positioned in the desired speed combination while the operator holds the clutch 45 disengaged by means of the foot pedal 84, and also pulls the speed control lever I40 to its lowest speed position, then releases the clutch pedal 84 to engage the clutch 45 thereby starting the machine forwardly. Here it will be noted that during the adjustment of the speed lever I40 the belts 92, 93 and the adjustable sheave 94 rotate at normal speed which facilitates shifting the adjustable sheave 94 before the implement starts. Then, when the clutch is engaged to start the implement forwardly, the belts are running at normal speed during engagement of the clutch and therefore there is no condition under which the V-belts are placed under heavy tension when stationary, as would be the case if the clutch 45 were to be interposed between the sheave 9Iand the engine shaft 81, which has been the cause of much belt breakage heretofore.

A brake drum I8I is mounted on the end of the shaft 4|, which projects from the transmission case 38 for this purpose. A brake actuating lever I82 is mounted on a shaft I83 journaled in a pair of flanges I84 supported on a bracket I85, which is rigidly fixed to the case 38. The lever I82 is swingable about the axis of the shaft I83 to engage conventional brake mechanism (not shown) within the drum I8I to retard the forward movement of the implement 5. The brake control connections are omitted as they do not form an essential part of my invention.

I claim: v

1. A self-propelled implement comprising a crop treating housing, a pair of traction wheels therefor, an axle housing extending transversely beneath said crop treating housing and carried on said wheels, power transmission mechanism associated with said axle housing and mounted thereon, said mechanism including a change gear mechanism, a V-belt sheave for transmitting power to the latter, and a disengageable clutch interposed between said-sheave and said change gear mechanism, an operator's platform mounted at the forward end of said crop treating housing, a power plant mounted on said crop treating housing rearwardly of said operator's platform and having a V-belt drive sheave for driving the implement, an adjustable V-belt sheave mounted on the crop treating housing generally between said power plant and said axle housing, said adjustable sheave comprising a pair of relatively fixed conical sheave elements and a central element disposed between said pair of elements and having a pair of opposed conical surfaces cooperating with said pair of elements to form a pair of V-belt sheaves, said central element being shiftable axially relative to said pair of elements to adjust the effective diameters of said pair of sheaves, a pair of V-belts connecting said pair of sheaves with said sheaves on said power plant and said clutch, respectively, mounting means for rotatably supporting said adjustable sheave, said mounting means being shiftable bodily relative to said power plant and said clutch to adjust the speed at which the latter is driven, and control means extending from said mounting means to said operator's platform under control of the operator for shifting said mounting means.

2. A self-propelled implement comprising a crop treating housing, a pair of traction wheels therefor, an axle housing extending transversely beneath said crop treating housing and carried on said wheels, power transmission mechanism associated with said axle housing and mounted thereon, said mechanism including a change gear mechanism, a V-belt sheave for transmitting power to the latter, and a disengageable clutch interposed between said sheave and said change gear mechanism, an operators platform mounted on top of said crop treating housing, a power plant mounted transversely on top of said crop treating housing rearwardly of said operator's platform and having a V-belt drive sheave overhanging the side of said housing, an adjustable V-belt sheave disposed on the side of said crop treating housing on a transverse axis of rotation in alignment with said power plant drive sheave and said sheave for driving said clutch, said adjustable sheave comprising a pair of relatively fixed conical sheave elements and a central element disposed between said pair of elements and having a pair of opposed conical surfaces cooperating with said pair of elements to form a pair of V-belt sheaves, said central element being shiftable axially relative to said pair of elements to adjust the effective diameters of said pair of sheaves, a pair of V-belts connecting said pair of sheaves with said sheaves on said power plant and said clutch, respectively, and molmting means for rotatably supporting said adjustable sheave, said mounting means comprising a bell crank device pivotally mountedon said crop treating housing and carrying said adjustable sheave on one arm thereof, and a control connection extending from another arm of said bell crank forwardly alongside said crop treating housing to said operator's platform to provide the operator with a remote control of the adjustable sheave to adjust the speed of travel of the implement.

RALPH L. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in th file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,150,456 Perrine Mar. 14, 1939 2,331,976 Hare Oct. 19, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 395,669 Germany May 22, 1924 547,857 France Dec. 27, 1922 693,456 Germany July 10, 1940 

